Since facing a life changing trauma my battle with mental health has been draining. Spending many years terrified of the outside world, agoraphobic not leaving the house, cutting out friends, unhealthy habits with food, self hate and self sabotage. Lost with no answers, weight gain and true disconnect from the world.
In October 2022 I signed myself up to run the London marathon for Mind. My whole mindset changed. Finding running, I found the fabulous Fiona who helped me find me again adding resistance training to my training. With the help of others I found my love for Pilates and Strength and Conditioning again.
Movement is important to maintain good mental health or improve our mental health. It increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. Movement includes anything from marathon training, strength training, walking or yoga.
Regular exercise remodels the physical structure of our brain to make you more receptive to joy and social connection. During physical activity our muscles secrete myokines (hormones) into the blood stream that make our brains more resilient to stress. Aerobic exercise alleviates anxiety by making our brains "fight or flight" system less reactive. We develop tolerances for physical symptoms we fear such as high heart rate. Meditative movement like yoga pays close attention to our bodies sensation, place in space and gut response, this kind of practice has been seen to reduce symptoms of PTSD (I can definitely back this one up!).
Finding movement again my life started to change. Having more confidence to get out and socialise with friends; I started to feel me again, life back in my eyes. I was managing my stress better, using exercise to clear my mind. My sleep improved, allowing me to think clearer and make more rational decisions. I began self love movement with care for my body, showing up for me and no one else. Exercising because I wanted to treat my body with the kindness it deserves, building physical and mental strength. By changing my mindset to moving for my body instead of punishing my body, I was able to change my food habits. Eating to fuel my body rather than starve my body.
Showing up for me looked different every day, and some days were harder than others but no matter what I got out for a walk in the country side with my dogs. Fresh air never fails to change my mood. Movement for me looked like: running, gym sessions, yoga classes and my own Pilates practice. In this time I have had my set backs with things life throws at you, but I have always come back to movement to ground me.
Movement is different for everyone and being able to help others find their movement to fight their own battles has given me another boost, driving me to practice more self love and care.
What does movement look like for you?
Emz x
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